In partnership with the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Caucus helped several clusters of Chicago suburbs pilot an innovative approach to housing and community development. Recognizing that housing issues do not adhere to jurisdictional boundaries, municipal leaders from South, West and Northwest Cook County are working across borders to address housing challenges at scale. Since 2009, 23 suburbs in South Cook County and five communities in West Cook County (Bellwood, Berwyn, Forest Park, Maywood and Oak Park) have been working together to address foreclosure issues. Philanthropic funding secured by the Caucus and MPC has enabled each collaborative to hire a housing coordinator. The coordinator advances a shared housing and community development strategy and assists participating communities in securing capital resources to take on critical issues that have received little attention in recent years due to a lack of staff capacity. Over the last six years, the Caucus has helped these two collaboratives raise over $1.1 Million in philanthropic grants, which has in turn leveraged over $40 Million of public and private funds.
In 2011, a newer cluster of five northwest suburbs formalized their partnership to address the residential needs of seniors in their area. The Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative (NWSHC) member communities include Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Rolling Meadows. Recent accomplishments of the NWSHC include the release of a Senior Resource Guide, which is a compilation of transportation and housing resources and other services that provide support to seniors in the northwest suburbs. In collaboration with the North West Housing Partnership, NWSHC is also providing seniors and people with disabilities over the age of 18 with minor home repair services as a part of the Handyman Program.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus received funding for this project from The Chicago Community Trust, Grand Victoria Foundation and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
Interjurisdictional Collaboration Resources
Policy Report: Supporting and Sustaining Interjurisdictional Collaboration for Housing and Community Development
Profitwise News and Views: Suburban Housing Collaboratives: a Case for Interjurisdictional Collaboration
West Cook County Housing Collaborative website
Chicago Southland Housing & Community Development Collaborative
Northwest Suburban Housing Collaborative Work Plan